Galloways freshens production platform with new Speedmaster CX

Cheshire printer Galloways has followed investment in a Versafire with a B1 Speedmaster CX from Heidelberg.

The all singing, all dancing press replaces a five-colour XL105 dating from 2008 and joins a 2006 CD102-6 which remains on site. The new litho press has arrived a few weeks after the company upgraded its digital print arm with investment in a Versafire EP, the most powerful toner press in the Heidelberg fleet.

Matthew Galloway says the new press will be commissioned by the end of this week and then be followed by training to bring minders up to speed with the latest technology and operating systems. “The press comes with Intellistart 2 and Inpress Control is as automated as it can be. This is the third part of the project with Heidelberg involving the litho press, digital press and Prinect that has been the focus of the business for the last couple of years,” he says.

This also involves linking the company’s Tharstern MIS and its GMG colour server and Switch workflow to automate production and provide job information back for improved decision making. “It’s about driving automation through the business as much as possible,” he explains. Previously while the company had a Tharstern MIS, XMF prepress and press automation, “all stood alone” says Galloway. “Now it’s all connected and fully automated up and down stream.”

The automation on the new press will mean six-minute job changeovers and cut waste to around 100 B1 sheets at each makeready. To achieve this will mean thorough training for the team to ensure that they learn to trust the numbers on the press.

Plates coming from the prepress should be profiled accurately and with the correct curves chosen. And Inpress Control will bring the press into colour and register without intervention. “It’s very much printing to the numbers,” Galloway continues. “Our core market is B1 and success is about getting the sheet to the floor as quickly as possible, which is why we have reinvested. This is a huge investment for us that hasn’t been done for a while. We looked hard at the market, analysis showed that less than 5% of our work needs six colours, so it was about how can we become as efficient as possible. The CX was the right choice.”

Speedmaster CX102

Galloways has made "the right choice" by investing in a five colour Speedmaster CX102 with coater. The press brings the company up to speed with technology and it will integrate MIS, prepress and now both litho and digital presses.